Nottinghamshire’s Steve Birks has been named overall Groundsman of the Year at the ECB’s Groundsman of the Year Awards.

The popular, long-serving Head Groundsman at Trent Bridge (pictured above, second left) was unveiled as winner of the coveted prize at Lord’s tonight (Wednesday).

His accolade comes after producing pitches that received consistently high marks in pitch assessments across the four-day, 50-over and 20-over formats.

As Notts Outlaws won the NatWest T20 Blast for the first time this summer, scores at Trent Bridge averaged 206 per innings in the group stages of that competition.

“It’s hugely well-deserved because Steve is an outstanding groundsman.” Notts’ Director of Cricket Mick Newell.

Birks has previously won the One-day Groundsman of the Year (in 2016) and Four-Day Groundsman of the Year (in 2011 & 2012) categories.

“It’s hugely well-deserved because Steve is an outstanding groundsman who has done a great job for our Club for a long period of time,” said Notts’ Director of Cricket Mick Newell.

“For four-day matches, he has produce some excellent pitches with pace and carry and for one-day cricket we have seen pitches on which batsmen can score big runs and entertain the crowds.

“The fact he has produced such good wickets across the formats, and also for international cricket too, underlines just what an expert he is in his field.”

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